Mini RANT: Things People Say

This one really bugs me. "Where's your medical degree?" "What medical school did you go to?"

Let's see, I may not have a medical degree however, I have studied herbal medicine and holistic health for about thirty years. And I've studied the human immune system, virology and bacteriology, parasitology, infectious diseases for about twenty five years. Does any of that knowledge count? And I continue to keep up with many of the latest breakthroughs and studies, which is more than most doctors ever do.

I hate it when people ask us that. They feel threatened when we sound like we actually know what we're talking about, so they think hitting us with where's your degree will knock us down.

Modern medicine has murdered, maimed, and disabled more people throughout the entire history of this planet than holistics and herbal medicines have ever done. Modern medicines have severe and often fatal side effects. Herbal medicines, when used correctly, rarely ever do.

I think there should be a degree given to the chronically ill who do have no choice but to spend their lives studying all this. We often do know a boat load more than any doctor ever will.

This one really bugs me. "Where's your medical degree?" "What medical school did you go to?"

I think there should be a degree given to the chronically ill who do have no choice but to spend their lives studying all this. We often do know a boat load more than any doctor ever will.

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you should be very proud of yourself for all the knowldege you have and share with others to help them.
ive never been asked the questions you speak of..but honeslty i dont know very much...i try to read on the boards or internet but dont retain things or understand things that well...

there should be more respect given to the chronically ill who have as you said no choice but to spend their lives studying these illness...its sad that we are so ill and yet so little information and understanding about these illness..
ive ranted and ranted about this...i dont understand it at all...other illness with similair or same symptoms are given respect but these illness arent..i wish i could understand it all...

at least we have computers to connect us to the world and try to find help for ourselves....i stay in pjs majority of time and take medicatons like most i have to lean back in chair ect. heating pads rubs whatever but at least we can do that to try to find help...i often wonder if these illness will ever be excepted or taken seriously...if we looked as bad as we felt it wouldnt be a pretty sight..

Sometimes, I just feel like I'm trying to educate idiots, one idiot at a time. And I'm so tired of it. All the same old arguments they throw at us. There are millions of us around the world with the same symptoms. When are people going to realize this is a pandemic?

Last week my doc spent 3/4 of the consultation looking up vitamin d on wiki , he doesn't even comprehend the basics.
My old doc did so much research, attended seminars every week all this despite a busy practice, delivering babies & visiting nursing homes twice a day.

My big peeve is "you read too much". How can one read too much? At least "I know info on my illness" even though they don't. Usually a medical tech will say this and I can tell you the only nurses that know anything about this disease are the ones who have it. The medical profession many times makes me sicker than I already am, they can be hurtful, ignorant and downright cruel. I think being drawn to a profession is not an affinity to it or even compassion. People want safe and profitable careers and medicine is the place to be and really do I care if a phlobotenist knows anything about CFS? I do when she tells me I read to much!

Last week my doc spent 3/4 of the consultation looking up vitamin d on wiki , he doesn't even comprehend the basics.
My old doc did so much research, attended seminars every week all this despite a busy practice, delivering babies & visiting nursing homes twice a day.[/quote

Ooh, I HATE it when my doc googles during consultations. I feel like saying, well, I could have done that at home!

Actually, in reality I probably already have done that at home.... plus come up with more relevant information than my doc possibly could in 5 minutes.

I read too much because doctors (both alternative and conventional) have made far too many mistakes and in some ways have destroyed my health. I've no doubt if I wasn't put on proton pump inhibitors for 4 years that my digestive system wouldn't have collapsed this badly.

They also misdiagnosed me with the wrong kind of esophagitis and did dialatations when dialatatons could have ruptured my esophagus.

Then there's the 4 gastroenterologists who failed to be able to diagnose malabsorption syndrome.

There's no way any doctor can expect me to not monitor his decisions and second guess them. Tough. They need to deal with it!

We live in a world in which NO doctor can be even close to up-to-date. There is too much to know. We, as patients, face two choices - either we accept second rate medical care, or we educate ourselves on our own specific problems and particate with our health care provider. I do not see a third choice currently. The average doctor in the US is 17 years out of date - we either do something to adjust for that or we become victims.

I tend towards taking as much control as possible, but under the strain of illness as it is. Sometimes this can be too much and you wish there was more guidance there, At times it feels like my doctors have gone from being my carer to being my tool.

Medical care needs to move from being consultation based to treatment program based for complex illnesses. Even if the doctor fees increase.

Too many times have I had to rehash my whole medical history to my doctor at every consultation!

The first sporadic cases at the site of the 1934 atypical polio epidemic were in 1932.

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Do we know if vaccinations were going on at the time? I wonder.

My current doc is ignorant of most things in the world. She didn't even believe drugs have side effects when I first started seeing her. She still thinks aspartame is safe. And when I brought her some info on Hashimoto's, she almost laughed me out the door. Seriously makes me wonder where she studied and how she even passed her classes.

I stick with her only because she doesn't treat me like I'm nuts. And she will usually give me something I ask for. She seems willing to let me try things. I don't switch because I cannot deal with another bad doctor telling me we're all nuts. The last one and his partner were awful. I spent one visit with the idiot doc yelling at me that I have a wastebasket disease. And another visit with his equally idiot of a partner asking me if my POTS attacks were just panic attacks. I wanted to punch her. Gee, I think I know the difference between a blood pressure drop so severe it goes black behind my eyes and a panic attack. I'm not scared or panic'd when I get a POTS attack. I just feel physically ill from not getting enough blood and oxygen to my limbs.

Sometimes I wish I could do what my friend's daughter did. Her daughter has severe CFIDS/ME. She was with one doc who didn't believe how much pain she was in, so she kicked him. Literally, she kicked the doc with a foot. And then some test results came back and proved why she was in pain. I don't remember what it was at the time, but it showed there was a problem. So the idiot doc apologized to her for not believing her and she got away with kicking him. Love it. I think we should all be able to kick each stupid doc. Of course, we wouldn't get away with it. Then they'd really section us all.

We live in a world in which NO doctor can be even close to up-to-date. There is too much to know. We, as patients, face two choices - either we accept second rate medical care, or we educate ourselves on our own specific problems and particate with our health care provider. I do not see a third choice currently. The average doctor in the US is 17 years out of date - we either do something to adjust for that or we become victims.

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That is perfectly fine when you can find a doctor who finds that acceptable. The vast majority don't. I know we with our Brisbane doctor are fortunate with this at the moment, but even he is crippled in many ways by the restrictions that the government are gradually tightening.

Carrigon, I really sympathize.
My doctor is pretty hopeless. Usually I try to find a good doc during a good/better phase in health but this time I crashed fast & so I am stuck.
No-way in hell am I going to a new doctor in a wheelchair, I couldn't face it. I know of another doctor I could see but she is very expensive, I would have to give up all my supplements without which I beleive I would be extremely sick.

At times it feels like my doctors have gone from being my carer to being my tool.